A five-member UN team, mandated by Kofi Annan, the special envoy to Syria for the UN and Arab League, is in Syria attempting to launch a
monitoring operation to help end the country’s crisis and establish a ceasefire.

­The former UN secretary-general's spokesman said that the team, with expertise on political, peacekeeping and mediation issues, will stay as long as
it is making progress in reaching agreement on practical steps to implement Annan's proposals.

Kofi Annan presented his six-point plan to Syrian President Bashar Assad during two meetings in Damascus on March 10-11 as the joint envoy for the UN
and Arab League.

A key point of the proposal calls for Syria to "commit to stop the fighting and achieve urgently an effective United Nations supervised cessation of
armed violence by all parties.” As these actions are being taken, Annan "shall seek similar commitments from all other armed groups to cease
violence under an effective United Nations supervision mechanism," it said.

In a letter to Annan, Syria said it is "keen to end violence," but insisted that armed opposition groups give up their weapons first. It also demanded
that Annan halt the supply and financing of weapons to the opposition.

Moscow says it is ready to back Kofi Annan's mission in Syria, not only in form of a statement, but also as a UN resolution. Russia’s Foreign
Minister said, however, that the Security Council should not interpret Annan's proposals as an ultimatum, but simply as a basis for settling the
crisis.

On Tuesday, the UN Security Council is expected to discuss a draft statement which backs Annan’s proposals and urges Syria to immediately implement
them.

Lavrov said in a statement issued on Tuesday that Russia is “ready to support Kofi Annan’s mission and those proposals he conveyed to the
Syrian side and to several opposition groups and also to the UN Security Council.”

“This not just in the form of a statement by the chair (of the Security Council) but in the form of a resolution,” Lavrov added.

The Russian foreign minister also stated there are “two minimum conditions needed” for a UN Security Council response regarding the Syria issue,
“be it in the form of a statement or a resolution.”

A Russian military unit has arrived in Syria, according to Russian news reports, a development that a United Nations Security Council source told
ABC News was "a bomb" certain to have serious repercussions.

Russia, one of President Bashar al-Assad's strongest allies despite international condemnation of the government's violent crackdown on the country's
uprising, has repeatedly blocked the United Nations Security Council's attempts to halt the violence, accusing the U.S. and its allies of trying to
start another war.

Star and flag for finding one of the shortest news stories that I have ever read.

Still i do believe that Assad has protected the christian population far better then the Syrian rebels will
Its just my thought i wonder whats going to happen to the christians after Assad is gone? Convert or Die maybe?

BEIRUT — The UN Security Council sent a strong and united message to the Syrian government and opposition on Wednesday to immediately implement
proposals by international envoy Kofi Annan to end the yearlong bloodshed. A nonbinding statement approved by the 15 council members and read at a
formal meeting spells out Annan's proposals, which include a cease-fire first by the Syrian government, a daily two-hour halt to fighting to evacuate
the injured and provide humanitarian aid, and inclusive political talks "to address the legitimate concerns of the Syrian people." In a bid to win
support from Russia and China, which have twice vetoed European and U.S.-backed resolutions condemning President Bashar Assad's crackdown on
protesters, France watered down the statement to eliminate possible consideration of "further measures," which could include sanctions or military
action. Instead, the presidential statement now asks Annan to update the council regularly on the progress of his mission and says that "in the light
of these reports, the Security Council will consider further steps as appropriate." The governments of the 15 council nations had been given until 9
a.m. (1300 GMT) Wednesday to raise any objections to the text of the statement. No country did so. "We hope that this will change the dynamic on the
ground," said Germany's UN Ambassador Peter Wittig. "Given the track record of the Security Council, with the double vetoes, this is a good sign." A
presidential statement, which needs approval from all council members, becomes part of the council's permanent record. It is stronger than a press
statement, which does not. But unlike resolutions, neither statement is legally binding. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday that the Syria
crisis is the most pressing issue facing the world. The U.N. estimates more than 8,000 people have been killed. "We have no time to waste, no time to
lose. Just one minute, one hour delay will mean more and more people dead," Ban told reporters in the Indonesian city of Bogor, his first stop on an
Asian tour. On Tuesday, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow is ready to support a UN resolution endorsing Annan's plan for settling
the Syrian crisis. But Lavrov warned that a resolution shouldn't turn into an ultimatum to the Syrian government. Russia and China called the earlier
resolutions unbalanced and said they demanded an end only to government attacks, not ones by the opposition. Moscow also argued that the resolutions
promoted regime change in Syria and feared outside intervention to support the rebels, as happened in Libya.

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